cover image The Corpse with the Silver Tongue

The Corpse with the Silver Tongue

Cathy Ace. TouchWood (www.touchwoodeditions.com), $14.95 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-927129-09-8

Ace’s smooth debut introduces Welsh-born Cait Morgan, a Vancouver, B.C., criminology professor and police consultant, who finds more than she bargained for in Nice, France, where she’s come to present a colleague’s paper. A chance encounter with her former boss, wealthy, unscrupulous Alastair Townsend, leads to a dinner invitation at his exclusive apartment. When Alastair expires after slumping into a bowl of escargots at the dinner table, Cait becomes, by default, the prime suspect because all the other guests are well-known locally. Among them are the poisoning victim’s trophy wife, Tamsin; octogenarian gardener Gerard Fontainebleau; and thriller author Chuck Damcott. Tamsin cries something about the “curse of the Celtic collar,” a stolen necklace. A museum robbery and further deaths give the plus-sized Cait plenty to think about as she tries to apply her academic expertise to solving the murder. Cait’s enjoyable first outing should earn her a well-deserved encore. (Apr.)